⚠ NOT FOR NAVIGATION. Use official charts and tide tables. This page is a planning aid only. Navigate with the current LINZ chart corrected for notices to mariners, official tide tables and local advice.

Cruising guides: Tonga

Official LINZ charts for TongaTO 101 Tonga (1:750,000)LINZ paper chart catalogue (Tonga charts are the TO series)LINZ is the charting authority for Tonga. Its TO series runs from TO 101 (all of Tonga, 1:750,000) to large-scale harbour charts; each place page links the ones it uses. Free TIFF images (CC BY 4.0) for planning; not maintained for notices, not for navigation.

Free planning notes for cruising and delivering boats to Tonga, from Niuatoputapu in the north to 'Eua in the south. Each page pulls together the LINZ charts, NGA's sailing directions and the Tongan government's own clearance, quarantine and weather pages, in plain English.

Section: TongaSources: LINZ, NGA Pub. 126, Government of Tonga, OpenStreetMapLast checked: 28 October 2026

Map of Tonga from the Niuas to 'Eua with a numbered marker for each of the 11 cruising guide places, coloured by region. A small inset map of the south-west Pacific, from eastern Australia to Tonga, shows Tonga boxed in gold.
Numbers match the list below; each name links to its guide. Inset locator drawn from Natural Earth (public domain). Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Positions are approximate and for orientation only. Not a chart. Not for navigation.
  1. 1Niuatoputapu · The Niuas
  2. 2Niuafo'ou · The Niuas
  3. 3Neiafu & Port of Refuge · Vava'u
  4. 4Vava'u southern passages & anchorages · Vava'u
  5. 5Pangai & Lifuka · Ha'apai
  6. 6Uoleva, 'Uiha & the eastern passes · Ha'apai
  7. 7Ha'afeva & the Lulunga Group · Ha'apai
  8. 8Nomuka & Nomuka Iki · Ha'apai
  9. 9Tongatapu approaches: Ava Lahi & Piha · Tongatapu & 'Eua
  10. 10Nuku'alofa Harbour · Tongatapu & 'Eua
  11. 11'Eua & Port 'Ohonua · Tongatapu & 'Eua

Regions, north to south

The Niuas

Niuatoputapu, Tafahi and Niuafo'ou · 2 guides

Region overview →

Vava'u

Neiafu, Port of Refuge and the southern islands · 2 guides

Region overview →

Ha'apai

Lifuka, Uoleva, 'Uiha, Lulunga and Nomuka · 4 guides

Region overview →

Tongatapu & 'Eua

Nuku'alofa, its approach channels and 'Eua · 3 guides

Region overview →

Before you sail for Tonga

  • Advance notice. Tonga Customs' small-craft Advance Notice of Arrival must reach Customs at least 24 hours before your ETA, and you should call Maritime Radio on VHF 16 before reaching your nominated Customs port.
  • Ports of entry. The Customs ports-of-entry page (read 28 October 2026) lists:None of the Niuas is on the list.
  • Temporary admission. A private yacht may stay 4 months under temporary admission, extendable by up to 8 more (12 in all).
  • Leaving. Once cleared out on form C15, sail straight for your next overseas port; no more stops in Tonga.
  • Cyclone season (dated). Tonga Meteorological Services' Tropical Cyclone Seasonal Outlook for 2026–2027 (released 28 October 2026, read 30 October 2026) gives the official season as 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027 and notes that cyclones have occasionally formed outside it. It expects an average season, with 2 to 4 tropical cyclones affecting Tonga and a moderate to high chance of at least one severe tropical cyclone, and the highest risk from January to March 2027. It also reports drought declarations in force for Tongatapu, 'Eua, Ha'apai and Niuatoputapu, with Vava'u and Niuafo'ou under drought warning, so plan your water. NGA Pub. 126 adds that at Nuku'alofa sudden, violent west and north-west squalls are common from December to April.
⚠ In an emergency
  • Mayday on VHF 16, and set off your distress beacon (EPIRB or PLB) and leave it on until help arrives.
  • Tonga Police emergency: 922
  • Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand, 24 hours: +64 4 577 8030. Tonga lies inside the New Zealand search and rescue region.
Contacts checked 28 October 2026 on the Maritime NZ (RCCNZ) and UK FCDO pages listed under Sources.

Hazards across the group

Tonga's main hazards are reefs, many hard to see at high water, and a scattering of active volcanoes. Buoys and beacons may be missing or out of position, especially in Ha'apai and the approaches to Nuku'alofa, so plan to arrive in daylight with good light. NGA also reports old mine zones around Tongatapu and a local magnetic anomaly at 20°42'S, 175°01'W. Check the LINZ notices to mariners for every chart you use.

Other sections

Our other cruising guides cover Australia, from Cooktown to Melbourne. 8 Australian sections planned, 6 written so far:

See all sections on one map.

How to use these guides

Every guide is a planning aid: what to expect, who to ask, and where to find the official word. None of it replaces the current LINZ chart corrected for notices to mariners, the Tongan authorities' current requirements, official tide tables or local advice.

Spotted something wrong or out of date? Report a correction.

Official links

Sources and credits

Written in our own words from NGA Pub. 126 Sailing Directions (Enroute) Pacific Islands, 13th edition (2025), corrected to 27 August 2026, Sector 2, the LINZ chart catalogue and notices to mariners, and official Tongan government pages, all read 28 October 2026.

LINZ. Chart titles, scales, editions and notices to mariners from the Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) chart catalogue. LINZ is the charting authority for Tonga. LINZ chart images are Crown copyright, licensed under CC BY 4.0; we link to them and don't reproduce them. Not endorsed by LINZ.

NGA. Pilotage background from NGA Pub. 126, Sailing Directions (Enroute) Pacific Islands, 13th edition (2025), U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a US Government work in the public domain. Some of its reports are decades old; where a page leans on an old report, we give the year. Not endorsed by NGA.

Government of Tonga. Clearance, immigration, quarantine, whale-watching and weather facts from the official pages and forms of the Ministry of Revenue & Customs, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Forests, the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Tourism and Tonga Meteorological Services, restated in our own words. The official versions prevail.

Ports Authority Tonga. Port of Nuku'alofa role and services from its own website, cited for fact only.

OpenStreetMap. Map tiles, facility positions, and anchorage positions that OpenStreetMap mappers imported from LINZ chart data, and the Ashore lists © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.

Safety contacts. Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (Maritime NZ) and UK FCDO travel advice, checked on the date shown in the emergency box.

Natural Earth. Locator and card maps drawn from Natural Earth (public domain).

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